Los Angeles Superior Court
Judge Laura A. Matz is one of three incumbents to have drawn a challenger in
the June 8 primary, facing off against veteran civil attorney Marvin G. Fischler
of Gittler & Bradford.

She says “it was a
complete shock” that Fischler decided to run against her and that she has “no
idea why he chose me.”

Fischler explains that
he “didn’t necessarily single her out because I thought she was a bad jurist,”
but arrived at her seat more through a process of elimination.

Of the 159 seats up for
election this year, the attorney says he ruled out the judicial officers “that
I thought were excellent jurists,” and the judges “that I felt I’ve been in
front of…and know,” as well as those “that I didn’t know exactly where they
were sitting.”

He says it was his understanding
that he would get to take over Matz’s Glendale courtroom if he prevails in the election, and
that was “a factor” he also considered.

LAURA A. MATZ

Incumbent
Faces Challenge for Second Time, Draws Praise From McCoy

This election
marks the second time that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Laura A. Matz has
drawn a challenge for her judicial seat.

Matz, while a
presiding judge of the Glendale Municipal Court, defended her position from North
Hollywood practitioner Glenn W. Hoiby in 1998, garnering almost 72 percent of
the vote.

Incumbent
judges are very rarely voted out of office, and Matz says she has never been
subject to discipline and is unaware of any complaints lodged against her.

“I think I do
a good job,” Matz remarks. “I hope my record will stand in good stead for me.”

She admits
that “sometimes” she is worried about the outcome of the June 8 primary, in
light of the judiciary’s recent financial woes and the possibility that voters
will seek “change for the sake of change.”

Even with the
odds in her favor, Matz says: “I don’t believe you have anything until you have
it, and I’m the sort of person who works for things.”

The jurist
says she is “definitely considering” hiring a campaign consultant and has been
spending several hours a week working on putting together an election committee
and completing the requite paperwork for the Los Angeles County Bar
Association’s evaluation process.

“And in the
meantime, I’m still doing my job every day,” she adds.

Matz also
says she does not involve herself in “politics,” such as the current dissension
among some members of the judiciary with the branch’s hierarchy.

“I’m more
worried about making sure I’m doing a good job,” she comments.

Bench Demeanor

On the bench,
“I try to be neutral, serious, concerned,” she explains. “I research the
law, I work hard, and I try to give everyone a fair hearing,”

Most days, Matz
claims, she is the last one to leave the courthouse.

“There’s
always work to do,” she says, but “it’s a lot of fun.”

Presiding
Judge Charles W. “Tim” McCoy praises Matz as “a very highly respected judge on
our bench” who is “extraordinarily competent” and “has a reputation for making
fair, well-balanced decisions that are very, very well thought out.”

Burbank real
estate attorney John Gerro says he has made “dozens” of appearances before Matz,
whom he opines is “a real asset to the North Central District.”

He says Matz
is “very diplomatic,” and “allows counsel to present evidence in a fair
procedure.” The jurist is “understanding, but firm at the same time,” he
continues, and “she’ll listen to your statements…and makes her decision
expeditiously and decisively.”

Sheldon J. Eskin,
vice president of the Glendale Bar Association, remarks that Matz is “always
fair” and “a very good judicial officer.”

When it comes
to cases, Matz “can move ’em,” he says, and she “deserves to be on the bench.”

Matz graduated from UCLA in 1975, and then worked for a few years as a
paralegal and at a bank before returning to her alma mater for law school. She
earned her law degree in 1981 and spent 15 years as a civil litigator before
being tapped for the Glendale Municipal Court bench in 1996 by then-Gov. Pete
Wilson.

She served a
stint as assistant presiding judge for that court in 1997 before become
presiding judge in 2000 and being elevated by unification.

Judicial Assignments

The judge
spent the first four-and-a-half years of her judicial career presiding over
criminal cases and the past nine hearing general civil matters.

Matz helped
to implement the Glendale courthouse’s Order to Show Cause program, which is
geared toward identifying cases being delayed by a failure to serve the summons
and complaint, and heads the mandatory settlement conference program.

She has also sat
pro tem on this district’s Court of Appeal on two occasions, but disclaims
having any aspirations to move to the appellate court anytime soon.

“I loved the
work while I was there, but…I like where I am.” Matz says, explaining that she
enjoys “the interchange with people…the energy of the courtroom…[and] trials.”

As a judge,
she says, “you learn something new every day,” and “not just about the law,”
but about the topics at issue in the proceedings, which range from infectious
diseases to rebuilding a car engine to foreclosures.

In addition
to providing lessons in a variety of topics, trials are “the sort of stuff TV
dramas are made of,” Matz remarks, smiling broadly. “It’s not surprising a lot
of people want this job.”

_____________________________________________

MARVIN G. FISCHLER

Attorney
Denies Challenge Is Criticism of Matz, Runs Without Consultant

Civil
attorney Marvin G. Fischler acknowledges that it is “a rare thing” for a
challenger to defeat an incumbent, remarking that it “surprised the heck out of
me” when Manhattan Beach bagel bakery proprietor Lynn Olson defeated Judge Dzintra
Janavs in 2006.

But Fischler
opines that securing victory for him is “just a matter of getting out there.”
Working without a campaign consultant or endorsements, and with a planned
budget of $5,000 to $7,000, the attorney says he will be reaching out to voters
through public access television, fliers, and “showing up at events.”

“It’s going to be a lot of shoe leather,” he says “but hopefully
people will be impressed enough with the fact that someone is actually taking
the effort to meet them and do this that I might be able to garner the vote.”

Ballot Designation

The papers Fischler
returned to the county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office last Thursday
gave his ballot designation as “Attorney/Mediator/Arbitrator.”

In his 25
years of practice, Fischler says, he has often observed litigants emerging from
courtrooms who “seemed to be rather confused about what happened or why it
happened” and that he wants to be a judge so that “people understand they’ve
been heard…and feel that at least…they had a just decision, win, lose or draw.”

Fischler
admits that he “can’t necessarily say I’m better qualified than Judge Matz. I
mean, she was appointed, and she’s been there, but it’s a matter of what it is
I’m trying to do.”

His campaign,
he says, is “not a matter of me versus her, but me trying to get on [the bench]
to deal with the situation that I’ve said that I’ve seen where people come out
and they don’t seem to understand what happened or why.”

Appeared Before Matz

The attorney
estimates that he has appeared before Matz on “maybe three cases” and that she
was “generally well-prepared” in those instances, although she could “sometimes…become
a little exasperated with counsel, or short.”

During his
most recent encounter with his opponent, Fischler opines that Matz “did not
take control” of the proceedings, which resulted in the case “being stretched
out a lot longer than they usually do.”

A 1979
graduate of the Claremont Men’s College—now Claremont McKenna—Fischler was
Order of the Coif at the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law and
was admitted to practice in 1982.

His practice
has primarily focused on construction defect and insurance defense, although
there has been “a DUI here or there” and “a couple other minor-type offenses,” he says.